Daughter of tornado victim recalls harrowing night

Gloria Lee said June 8, 1966, was the day she began to truly appreciate life.

Lee, now 72, was at her home on S.E. 8th Street with her 63-year-old father, Gareford Lee, and her 23-month-old son, Michael, when a massive tornado ravaged Topeka and ripped their home from its foundation.

Lee’s father was one of 16 people who died in the storm. Gareford, who was no longer working because of severe arthritis in his spine, had been a laborer in earlier days, working for hotels, the city street department and a meat packing plant.

“At the time, there hadn’t been a tornado in Topeka that had happened in our lifetime, so my father said, ‘There’s not going to be a tornado,’ ” she said. “Then the TV said, ‘Warning, warning,’ and then the TV went out.”

Lee heard debris hitting the roof of their home, so she grabbed a large stuffed chair and tipped it over. She and her son hid beneath it.

“I yelled to my dad, ‘Get down, it’s coming!’ ” Lee said. “Then I felt something hit the back of my head, and I really did start to see stars. Then I felt some movement, and I realized I was at the curb across the street with my son. My whole house was gone.

“My neighbors heard me screaming for my father, and they told me he was OK so I believed them. Next thing I know, the ambulance came to pick up me and my son. It came out of nowhere. I remember thinking it got there really fast.”

Lee was taken to Stormont Vail Hospital, where hundreds of other injured people were being treated.

“I looked like I was in a fight and everyone had a baseball bat but me,” she said. “I had cuts and bruises all over my body.”

Lee remained at the hospital with her son, who had received minor cuts and bruises during the storm, until a friend was able to come pick her up.

“I couldn’t get any information about my dad at the hospital,” she said. “But the next morning, I got a call. They said they’d tried to get a hold of me, but that my dad didn’t make it. It was devastating.”

Lee and her son lived with a friend in the weeks following the storm. Eventually, her friends and her church raised enough money to purchase a train ticket to California, where Lee’s older sister lived.

“I left on July 1, 1966, and got to California on July 3,” said Lee, a resident of Rancho Mirage, Calif. “I’ve been here ever since.”

Lee suffered several infections as a result of the cuts she received during the tornado. In 2002, she underwent knee replacement because of an aggressive infection. Although Lee’s son, Michael, didn’t experience any health complications related to the storm, he died in 2007 of heart disease.

Lee said she is thankful for everyone who helped her 50 years ago.

“I really appreciated all the help I got from friends and family and people I didn’t even know,” she said. “My son and I were fortunate to be alive.”